Calibration Software - Seeking Suggestions - Commercial or Home Made

[Mike S.]

I'm looking for some recommendations on good calibration management software. I don't need a list of companies that sell the stuff, I'd like to hear your opinions on what you have used that you like (or don't like). I don't know Access, nor does anyone else here, so writing our own is not too feasible right now.

We're a small company -- under 50 people. I don't need something with lots of bells and whistles, R&R functions, bar-code readers, label printers, whiz-bang kinda-stuff. I'd perfer something basic and reasonably easy to use (and train others to use) without reading a manual the size of War and Peace. Something easy to back-up to a server or CDROM or transfer to another computer if needed without headaches or loss of data.

If for some reason you don't want to post your opinions publicly please e-mail me. Thanks in advance.

 

[Marc]

I'll bet someone out there has an Access database you could have a copy of. I don't remember if anyone has posted one in a thread or not. I'll have a looksie this evening. Or are you looking specifically for commercial program?

 

[Bob_M]

I'm looking for some recommendations on good calibration management software. I don't need a list of companies that sell the stuff, I'd like to hear your opinions on what you have used that you like (or don't like). I don't know Access, nor does anyone else here, so writing our own is not too feasible right now.

We're a small company -- under 50 people. I don't need something with lots of bells and whistles, R&R functions, bar-code readers, label printers, whiz-bang kinda-stuff. I'd perfer something basic and reasonably easy to use (and train others to use) without reading a manual the size of War and Peace. Something easy to back-up to a server or CDROM or transfer to another computer if needed without headaches or loss of data.

If for some reason you don't want to post your opinions publicly please e-mail me. Thanks in advance.

I do not know the price, and have not read the brochure for the current version but...
http://www.cybermetrics.com/products/products.htm
Take a look at GageTrak and GageTrakSE (if you get prices please let me know)
We have an OLDER version (version 3) that work for us (currently around 25 people ). Rather simple to use. Some bells and whistle, but MOST of them are add-ons now.

If you do find a good low-end product let us know.
(We may want/need to update at some point).

 

[Bob_M]

I'll bet someone out there has an Access database you could have a copy of. I don't remember if anyone has posted one in a thread or not. I'll have a looksie this evening. Or are you looking specifically for commercial program?

Gee Marc your so eager to help .

A basic pre-built database sounds good.
*man I gotta get that PAYpal info from my wife*
*kicks self for not contribing yet*

 

[Jerry Eldred]

with a company as small as that, depending on what your test equipment population is, you might even want to just consider an Excel spreadsheet. In my consultant days, I audited a major provider of very specialized standards, with an excellent quality system that simply used Microsoft Excel. I would say that if you had less than 50 or so instruments, it could be the simple answer that would cost basically nothing.

A cheap database runs in the thousands of dollars. A top end one can be more than $50K - $80K (I know, I've priced them recently).

The second alternative, since you asked... is MetTrack. I've used earlier revisions of it, and liked it. Even if it is an off-the-shelf database, it requires set up and training. I was a one man lab at a couple of different companies. I created one system on dBase IV (a long time ago - those records are long gone). I bought Mettrack at the second company. It is a good system, very versatile, costs a few thousand dollars. But even so, still requires a significant amount of time to set up and learn. You used to be able to access Mettrack on Fluke.com website. But I believe they have a totally website whose URL currently eludes me.

But back to Excel... For a small inventory, you can make it do a lot with some finesse. It's not nearly as difficult to learn as MS Access. But it has a lot of versatility. Using workbooks and hyperlinks between documents, you can make Excel act like a relational database fairly painlessly.

My opinions above are completely my own, and are not intended to market any products or to imply there is anything wrong with others, only to give personal insight from my experiences.

 

[Atul Khandekar]

Mike,

A few months ago, Chris Jacobson (cjsys.com?) had offered a cal. software free ( and as is) in these forums. If I remember right it was on MS Access. I think you'll find the link in the Company Advt.- Free Offers forum.

If you are interested, I may still have the program downloaded somewhere on my office PC and I can find & send it to you.

-Atul.

PS (Disclaimer): I never did get down to trying or using the program.

 

[Craig H.]

Mike

We use Blue Mountain's Calibration Manager, DOS version (I know, I know, but it does what we need it to) that I inherited.

I would suggest, though, using an Excel or Access base. That way you will have an easier time getting at your data, and there are a lot more people that can help if there are problems. Not that our software is bad - it works fine - but I really would prefer the ability to look at raw data. Also, in the future when you do need to upgrade or change, it sure will be a lot easier than having to try to transport data across formats.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[CarolX]

dead link

Atul and all,

cjsys.net

I found the thread Atul refered to and the link is dead. Going to the main page shows the site is under construction.

Oh well.

CarolX

 

[Mike S.]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Marc -- I am not married to a commercial program at all -- someone's Access database tailored to the job would be great. It is just that I do not know Access.

Jerry - I do know Excel fairly well (not expert), and tried that in the past, but it just seemed a bit tedious. Maybe a more imaginitive Excel user could do better.

We have about 60 items in the system now, and this could easily double in a year or so. Lots of stuff that gets done 3-4 times a year, too.

Thanks!

 

[howste]

I've used a couple of versions of PQSystems' GagePack software. They have a 30 day trial you can download to see if you like it first. I think it costs about $800. It does all of the basic stuff, includes email notification when gages are due, plus things like linearity, bias, stability, and R&R studies. Overall I was very happy with it.

BTW, the last version of it I used (3 or 4 years ago) was built on a database that I could open in Access, so I could get to the raw data if I wanted to.